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Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: Bionic on December 01, 2012, 02:19:36 pm

Title: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 01, 2012, 02:19:36 pm
I have used Kichener stitch a couple of times when making up socks. It grafts together really well but I can never relax when doing it as I need to read the instructions for each stitch every time.
What I mean is that there doesn't seem to be an easy flow that I can remember. Good job that its only used for a few stitches.
I have attached a pic of the latest socks. I have made this for my sister as part of her christmas present.
Just need to block them now so that they look a bit tidier.
Sally
 
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 01, 2012, 02:38:04 pm
They look fab, Sally.   :thumbsup:  Sis will be well happy!   :excited:

I'm in the same boat Kitchener stitch-wise.  I plan to give myself some time (when?!) to have a play using large needles and different coloured wools - I'm sure there is a pattern there I'll 'get' if I do this a few times.

Meanwhile, I knit my socks toe-up, using my own two-way cast on (*), hourglass heel, all in one, no sewing required...  :)

(*) If anyone has a pukka two-way cast on they can share, I would love to hear about it!  I'm sure there must be better ways than the contortions I put myself through in order to avoid any Kitchener stitching  :D
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 01, 2012, 04:54:14 pm
What brilliant colours! I normally have no trouble with Kitchener stitch - except when lighting is less than perfect, which is almost always in the dark times of the year (that means for around 9 months in Scotland...)  ::)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Mammyshaz on December 01, 2012, 04:58:40 pm
I love those socks Sally. They are a present to be proud of  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Anke on December 01, 2012, 06:16:34 pm
Fab socks! Do they glow in the dark?  ;D
I have no idea what "Kitchener" stitch is, as I do alll my socks one way only, never bothered to learn another method. Start at the top, turn heel with "shortened" rows, then back to 4 needles and the toes are just knitting together the first stitch (as in reducing by one) on each needle in a regular pattern. Couldn't explain it properly though... no sawing at all required. :relief:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: FiB on December 01, 2012, 06:47:58 pm
sock envy!!!!  YOu are all speaking a foreign language still....  one day!
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Dans on December 01, 2012, 09:17:08 pm
sock envy!!!!  YOu are all speaking a foreign language still....  one day!

Same here FiB, sure we'll get there!

Awesome socks Bionic  :thumbsup:

Dans
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 01, 2012, 10:48:55 pm
Love those socks, Sally.  I'm tempted to have a go myself although I struggle to knit with four needles.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Fleecewife on December 02, 2012, 02:02:20 am
Wow - dazzling socks  :thumbsup:  I love them  :knit:
 
Kitchener stitch:  after setting up, with top stitches on one needle and sole stitches on another:  slip first st on front needle onto sewing needle as if to knit; slip needle through second stitch as if to pearl, but leaving st on needle, with yarn through it.  Go to back needle, slip first st off as if to pearl, pull yarn through second st as if to knit.
 
So front needle, 1st st knitwise, 2nd st pearlwise; back needle first st pearlwise, 2nd st knitwise.
 
This will (hopefully) make sense to those who have already tried Kitchener stitch.  As I'm doing it I mutter 'as if to knit, as if to pearl' - 'as if to pearl, as if to knit'.
 
Leave the yarn very loose through the stitches in case you make a mistake, as if you tighten them on the first pass you can't see where you are.  Once all the graft is done, go back and tension them all properly.
 
Simples  :hohoho: :hohoho: :hohoho:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 02, 2012, 08:57:33 am
I've bookmarked that, FW.  It doesn't quite make sense in abstract but I'll pull it back up when I'm ready to have a go, and I know it'll come together then.  Thanks!   :-*
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 02, 2012, 09:06:09 am
Thanks Fleecewife, I will give it a go using your method although the pair I have just started won't need it as they are done using Ankes' method.
For those of you that haven't tried to knit socks or struggle with 4/5 needles do give it a go. I was in your position last year. There is a thread on here somewhere about it. I kept stabbing myself with the needles but perservered and have now made 3 pairs. Its really addictive once you get the hang of them and very rewarding when you wear them.
Sally
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 02, 2012, 09:22:25 am
For those of you that haven't tried to knit socks or struggle with 4/5 needles do give it a go. I was in your position last year. There is a thread on here somewhere about it.  Its really addictive once you get the hang of them and very rewarding when you wear them.
Sally
This
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 02, 2012, 10:55:59 pm
I don't stab myself - not often anyway - but in the attempt to avoid holes when you change needles, wnd up on only two with two spare.  Mad.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 03, 2012, 05:19:24 am
To avoid the hole between needles, I knit a few extra stitiches off the end of each needle each time.  If I've got company and am chattering while knitting I do sometimes realise I've reached the end of a needle and already have one awaiting redeployment!  :D  But as I use 5 in total, I still have 3 in a triangle, so it's not too bad.  ;)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 03, 2012, 09:32:16 am
Sally I do exactly the same as you do. Knit a few extra stitches and then knit them back a couple of rows later so that I keep more or less to the same starting points in the end.
It seems to work quite well
Sally
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 03, 2012, 11:09:31 am
I just go round and round - frinstance add 4 every pin, takes 5 rows to be back where you started if there are 80 stitches around
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 03, 2012, 05:57:32 pm
Sally and Sally, that's how I end up in trouble, by doing a couple of extra stitches on each row and then I find I've done the whole lot.   :dunce:   I think I'll try with five needles to see if that works for me.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 03, 2012, 06:07:44 pm
Sally and Sally, that's how I end up in trouble, by doing a couple of extra stitches on each row and then I find I've done the whole lot.   :dunce:   I think I'll try with five needles to see if that works for me.

5 needles have the advantage that you can lay the whole thing flat - so you can actually see what's happening; and you have enough leeway to try them on while on the needles (without having to move about stitches onto different needles).

I'm wondering why I never have problems with holes in between needles - could that be that the "continental" knitting avoids them? ???
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Dans on December 03, 2012, 10:34:52 pm
I've only knitted in the round with dpns once (pair of mittens) and had no problems with holes. I knit British style, but I do it knit quite tight.

Dans
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 04, 2012, 04:54:37 am
I'm wondering why I never have problems with holes in between needles - could that be that the "continental" knitting avoids them? ???
Possibly.  But mainly I think it's just practise.  I tried a few inches on the most recent sock where I didn't move the needles around each row - and you couldn't tell where I'd had the break.

I have been teaching myself the continental stocking stitch - and I love it!  For runs of straight stocking stitch it's much faster - but I haven't yet got my tension quite consistent, and I think maybe I knit with a little bit more tension this way.  I do a lot of k3p1 ribbing (and I mostly do this on socks), and I don't find it quicker for that, but when it's garter stitch, or stockinette on circular pins, I think it's definitely the way to go.

I've been knitting slippers using two yarns simultaneously today and I didn't dare try the continental style for that - I think I'd be too likely to leave one of the two strands behind.  But that's just what you're used to; the slipper pattern is garter stitch with just two stitches each row that are a bit different, so if and when I get more comfortable with the continental style I'll be able to whizz through slippers in no time flat!

Sorry, none of this post is about Kitchener stitch... need a slapped wrist emotiwotsit... :innocent:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 04, 2012, 07:55:10 am

Sorry, none of this post is about Kitchener stitch... need a slapped wrist emotiwotsit... :innocent:

Just natural evolution of a topic!  ;D
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 04, 2012, 08:12:00 am
And of course now we need a pic of the slippers  ;D :knit:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 04, 2012, 10:32:57 pm
And an explanation of continental  :knit:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 05, 2012, 04:04:07 am
And an explanation of continental  :knit:
Pick it up here (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=28664.msg284937#msg284937)
Title: .
Post by: RUSTYME on December 21, 2012, 08:44:33 pm
I can't knit by hand , but worked on an industrial hand knitting machine for a few years . I have , in the shed , a sock knitting machine that i would like to use , if i can clean it up ok ?  Does anyone know anything about them ? It is a hand operated machine , about 6-8 inches in dia . Usual knitting machine type needles . Not even sure if it is all there now , but would be handy to know how to use one .
Cheers Russ 
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 21, 2012, 10:31:21 pm
And an explanation of continental  :knit:
Pick it up here (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=28664.msg284937#msg284937)

Thanks, Sally.  I've just looked at the video and think I'm going to have to give it a go.

Russ, I've seen the sock knitting machines but have no idea how to use them.  I did have an ordinary knitting machine which was my dad's but just didn't enjoy using it.  There's something very therapeutic about hand knitting.  The other plus is that you can do other things at the same time, such as read or walk the dogs.
Title: .
Post by: RUSTYME on December 22, 2012, 12:23:41 am
No probs Lesley , i will most likely be able to work it out ? ? ?
The home type knitting machines would last about 5 minutes with me , i used an industrial one . They are basically the same thing but it takes 2 blokes to move one ! Very heavy duty and take a huge amount of abuse .
On one of those i could knit a jumper in about 30 minutes if i took my time .
 When working though , you do say 15 backs then 15 fronts then 30 sleeves then 15 collars . They then go to the steam press , get steamed to even out size etc and then go to the overlocker to get put together .
You may be able to do other things while you knit Lesley , but i am a bloke , can barely manage one thing at a time , and if someone interupts and speaks " eh ? What ? , oh bugger !" complete meltdown .
Hey ho , way to go , eh ? What ? Lol .
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 22, 2012, 10:25:51 pm
Sorry, Russ, I forgot that men can't multi-task.  When we had the craft workshop in Arran, we were always so busy in the summer that I would always take some knitting or crochet with me when evening dog walking (didn't have dogs on leads).  Wool in the right pocket for knitting and left for crochet.  I could make most of a hat while walking and just had to do the decreasing indoors where I had lighting.  One thing I did discover was that it's not a good idea to do cable whilst walking.  The cable needle is liable to slip out of the work and, when you live in an area where sheep and deer wander at will, you do not want to be groping round on the ground in the dark, trying to find the cable needle.   :roflanim:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 23, 2012, 06:57:19 am
  One thing I did discover was that it's not a good idea to do cable whilst walking.  The cable needle is liable to slip out of the work and, when you live in an area where sheep and deer wander at will, you do not want to be groping round on the ground in the dark, trying to find the cable needle.   :roflanim:
MGM you paint a vivid picture  :roflanim: :roflanim:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 24, 2012, 10:52:53 pm
I have vivid memories of trying to find cable needles in the dark.   :roflanim:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 24, 2012, 11:00:06 pm
Circular needles are great for knitting when you are doing other stuff - you can never loose one - unless you drop all your stitches at once! I remember knitting socks while herding goats in France... The number of times I lost one of the five needles, because the youngsters were getting too inquisitive... ::)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Birdie Wife on December 30, 2012, 07:12:10 pm
(*) If anyone has a pukka two-way cast on they can share, I would love to hear about it!  I'm sure there must be better ways than the contortions I put myself through in order to avoid any Kitchener stitching  :D

Have you tried the hexipuff cast-on?  Look it up on youtube  :)
 
basically you cast on the number of stitches you want onto one needle, then with two needles side by side you slip alternate stitches onto the needles. Then knit in the round as usual. I used this for some Kindle cosies and it worked like a charm!
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 31, 2012, 12:02:48 am
That's kinda what I do, BW - I don't find it very easy to do the way I cast on, maybe I just need to try it with different cast ons. :)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: jaykay on December 31, 2012, 02:24:03 am
Judy's magic cast on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkyd3nq3Yn8#)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 31, 2012, 09:26:54 am
Jaykay, you posted this early. Couldn't you sleep?
I have never seen anything like this before. I was taught to cast on with my thumb and a long piece of wool and have never changed it. This doesn't look too difficult though and I like the fact that there is no stitching to do. Would I need a specific pattern for socks done like this?
 
Sally
 
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 31, 2012, 09:39:24 am
I get it!  Looks exactly what I want - thanks jay, I'll give that a go.  (Actually I'll probably give it 24 goes but I will get it eventually!  :D)

Sally, this would work as the start for any toe-up socks.  I knit all my socks toe-up now, it's so convenient to be able to try them on as you go, stop when you run out of wool, etc.

I use the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook; it gives you the design basics for the various ways you can knit socks (toe-up, heel down, hourglass heels, afterthought heels, gusset heels, provisional cast-ons, kitchener stitch, etc etc) plus loads of stuff on patterning and use of colour that I haven't even got into yet.  It's my sock bible and I wouldn't be without it.  :)  (Thanks to Fleecewife for recommending it  :thumbsup:)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: jaykay on December 31, 2012, 09:44:49 am
Sally, it was so wild here last night, I woke up with the noise of the wind and then had to get up to check the state of the beck (high, but not unmanageably so).

As SITN says, you can knit any toe up sock starting like this and I also prefer doing socks this way since you can carry in til you run out of yarn. (that's the cast on I was trying to show you in Torrie's cafe, other Sally  :))

That Twisted Sisters sock book is wonderful - thanks to SITN for my copy  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on December 31, 2012, 09:46:53 am
Book ordered  :thumbsup:
thanks
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 31, 2012, 03:46:46 pm
I'm now tempted to order that book.   ::)   First though, I will have a go at socks like that on circular needles.  Just wondering how you deal with the heel though?

Sally, I learned to cast on the thumb method as well but originally, my mum taught me to cast on with two needles by knotting a loop onto the first needle then knitting into that but, instead of taking it off the needle, you twist it and put it on the first needle.  Does that make sense?  It does to me but I know what I'm talking about.  Someone else showed me that if you do this method but knitting into the back of the stitch, you get a firmer edge.  Now I do whichever method seems most appropriate.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: jaykay on December 31, 2012, 03:54:51 pm
TATU sock (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tatu-sock) Try A Toe Up sock

Free Ravelry download, in 'sport weight' wool. You can buy her sockweight pattern (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fingering-weight-tatu-sock) for about £2.85. It takes you through a toe-up sock, with an easy heel.

Or that book has several different sorts of heels  ;)

I have to say I don't like knitting socks on circulars, I prefer dpn's and just do the 'magic cast-on' as shown but on two dpn's and then as I knit the first stitches, move it onto 4 needles and go from there.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 31, 2012, 05:09:30 pm
Thanks, Jaykay.  I've downloaded that pattern.  What is it you don't like about knitting socks on circular needles?  I've always struggled with dpns so might give it a try.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 31, 2012, 05:16:04 pm
I am somewhat tempted by toe-up socks - but looking at that pattern I think it would be difficult to reinforce the heel - and that is quite important to the way my socks suffer from being worn by me in boots... (With the reinforced heel they tend to last for years; without, only weeks.) Plus, if a hole develops in the toe, you can't just undo the last bit and knit new toes! But the fact that you don't have bits of wool left over all the time, or - alternatively - end up not having quite enough for the last bit is of course an advantage. I have a lot of socks with different coloured toes.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 31, 2012, 05:31:06 pm
You're just making a fashion statement.   ;)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on December 31, 2012, 06:07:19 pm
You're just making a fashion statement.   ;)

Of course I am!  ;D Anyway, not given to wearing socks with sandals - nobody sees the toes in my boots...
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on January 01, 2013, 09:11:50 am
I prefer dpns for socks, too - the appropriately-sized circular needles don't have enough length of straight for my hands to grip for the way I knit.  You can use magic loop with longer circs, but I haven't tried that as I don't have a problem with dpns.  (In fact I'm knitting my two-layer opening mitts with built-in hand-and-wrist warmers at the mo, with 8 dpns on the go, 4 on each layer!  :D  Actually, about to start the thumb, so another 4 there makes 12!!  I look like I'm making a porcupine! :D)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on January 01, 2013, 09:19:41 am
Ina, the toe-up socks with hourglass heel I make - being the basic pattern from the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook - does allow you to drop out heel or toe and reknit.  I haven't done it yet, but the book explains how to unpick one row, hold the rest of the sock there on dpns, and then knit away from the dpns.  In the case of the heel this is then just like adding an afterthought heel, and you join it in using Kitchener stitch when you reach the other side.  With the toe you either knit a toe-down new toe, or if you want all the stitches to line up then you'd knit a new toe from the tip and graft it in using Kitchener stitch.

So far I haven't given any of my socks enough wear to need to replace either toe or heel - and nor, amazingly, have I yet needed to repair BH's first pair, which has been a big and very nice surprise, as he wears them pretty much all the time he's off the farm - but I would be interested to know how you reinforce your heels, Ina?  I love wearing my homemade socks so much I do want to use them for everyday use about the farm, and for sure the heels will then take more of a pounding, as you say. 
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Bionic on January 01, 2013, 09:23:33 am
(In fact I'm knitting my two-layer opening mitts with built-in hand-and-wrist warmers at the mo, with 8 dpns on the go, 4 on each layer!  :D  Actually, about to start the thumb, so another 4 there makes 12!!  I look like I'm making a porcupine! :D )
Now you are just bragging  :-J :innocent:  some of us are lucky to be managing 4 dpns
Sally
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on January 01, 2013, 10:26:21 am
but I would be interested to know how you reinforce your heels, Ina? 

Argh - I'm really bad at explaining knitting in English terms...  ??? But will try to find something on  the net that does them the way I do.

Your explanation for the toe up makes sense. A lot of grafting, though... I think I'd be too lazy to do that! Always takes me very little time to knit something - and can then take ages to do the last 6 stitches of grafting... So I think maybe I'd better stick with my different coloured toes.  ;D (My personal signature...)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: jaykay on January 01, 2013, 10:31:46 am
No grafting at all in a standard toe-up sock.

Do you do slipstitch to reinforce the heels? You could still do that toe-up.

Yeh, I wouldn't want to try to explain knitting things in German either  :D

I like the idea of different coloured toes  ;D
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on January 01, 2013, 10:56:44 am
coatscrafts.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/361AD56B-CEB4-4191-9219-2296CE58552C/74378/Howtoknitsocks.pdf

Right. That's basically how I do it - although in this there's no reinforcement. (It's  German yarn - which is probably why it's most similar to what I do! And of course they use 5 needles, which I find makes it a lot easier to see what's going on - and you can try them on as you go.) Please note: the photo doesn't actually show socks knitted according to the instructions! (Stupid, that.)

For the heel flap, I just double up the yarn. For the heel itself, I knit front row: 1 knit, I slipped with yarn behind the stitch - repeat. Return row all purl. Next front row you start with the slip, etc.

Does that make sense? ???

I have sometimes doubled up for the toe bit, too, but I find with my particular foot shape, the holes often appear further up the foot at the side (I have very wide feet, and that seems to be where there's most friction in the boot). So it's not really worth it reinforcing the actual toe.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on January 01, 2013, 11:29:40 am
Yes, I obviously explained that really badly - sorry.  No grafting in the original sock, grafting only when replacing toes or heels.

Your technique for reinforcing heels would work exactly the same in the hourglass heel, Ina - the heel itself is knitted to and fro, with the front of the ankle held in a stitch holder or piece of yarn until the heel is completed, then just carry on knitting in the round and up the leg.  I may decide to have a go at that reinforced heel myself...

BH's first pair that surprisingly haven't worn at all yet were in a 75% acryllic/25% wool for the body, and I did the toes and heels in 15% alpaca/85% wool as I hoped it would be sharder-wearing.  So far so good! :)

(My own socks are all 100% natural fibres, I don't get on with man-made fibre.)

I too love the idea of the multi-coloured toes - I have already decided that I'm not bothered about pairing socks and that all my socks could be unique!   :D
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on January 01, 2013, 01:42:43 pm
Yes, I obviously explained that really badly - sorry.  No grafting in the original sock, grafting only when replacing toes or heels.

No, you did explain that perfectly ok - I was thinking of the separate heels for reinforcing... I also want the "flap" of the heel stronger reinforced than the sides, as that makes them thicker/softer as well as harder wearing...

Can you see that I'm just not going to go for the toe-up knitting, no matter what you say?  :roflanim:

(Sorry - old habits die hard - maybe in my next life!  ;D )


One popular brand of German knitting yarn (Roedel) used to sell their sock yarn with a separate small spool of reinforcing thread in the same colour - like the stuff you can buy for darning socks. That was 100% acrylic, and was absolutely great; it didn't make it too bulky (even the toes looked normal with that), and the socks lasted a very long time. Unfortunately they stopped doing  it; maybe because these days most yarn is multicoloured?


Btw, I've not found any 100% natural wool yet that lasted long enough in my boots to make it worth while knitting socks... I use 100% natural for everything else I knit, but my socks are 25% plastic.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on January 01, 2013, 02:14:01 pm
I'm really not trying to win an argument, Ina, just you'd said you were interested in the idea of toe-up socks, so I was wanting to make sure I hadn't misled you, and you were aware that you could reinforce the heel knitting toe-up.  If you've got a way of making socks that works for you, don't change it!   :)
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: SallyintNorth on January 01, 2013, 02:19:01 pm
I am hoping that the wool I spin myself will be stronger than shop-bought - it's still a bit early to tell, but when I see how much crud (short fibres etc) I pick out of my own fleece that I know would be included in mill-spun yarn, I am hopeful that, along with being able to put in more twist, and make two of the plies S-twist and one Z, then plying Z, etc, I can make yarn that is much stronger than shop-bought 100% wool.  If not, then I can always blend alpaca or silk in for the heels for extra strength. 

I have been given some trilobal nylon fibre to try, maybe I'll blend some of that in for the heels and toes of BH's next pair...
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Ina on January 01, 2013, 02:36:44 pm
No - I didn't see this as an argument - if anything, I was trying to persuade myself that it is time to change my ways, and am astonished at finding myself so stuck to my established way of doing things! And you are right, you need to find a way that suits yourself not only from the point of knitting, also from the shape of particular feet, and the way socks wear out for you.

I think using that nylon fibre (or silk or alpaca)  for the heels is a great idea. I tried several types of pure wool - even stuff that was sold as sock yarn - and was fed up with finding they had holes after only wearing them a couple of times. The only type left that I still want to try is Guernsey wool, as that is very densely plied and might just do the trick.
Title: Re: Kitchener stitch - latest socks
Post by: Birdie Wife on January 03, 2013, 08:38:02 am
I'm now tempted to order that book.   ::)   First though, I will have a go at socks like that on circular needles.  Just wondering how you deal with the heel though?

Sally, I learned to cast on the thumb method as well but originally, my mum taught me to cast on with two needles by knotting a loop onto the first needle then knitting into that but, instead of taking it off the needle, you twist it and put it on the first needle.  Does that make sense?  It does to me but I know what I'm talking about.  Someone else showed me that if you do this method but knitting into the back of the stitch, you get a firmer edge.  Now I do whichever method seems most appropriate.

I do that too (knit into the stitch and twist it over back onto the left needle) - I think it's called the cable cast-on, but it's the original way my mum taught me so I didn't know any different until recently  :-[  it does give a good stretchy edge though  :)